Professor O'Leary
April 30, 2007 3:53 PM
First Years: Lesson Two by Professor O'Leary
Drake entered the classroom, after the students should have been there. His black, always black, like the night, robes billowing behind him. He wanted to make an impression on the students that he could still make an impression on. Especially now, when they were now in the territory, his territory, where he felt in control. For the most part, he didn't enjoy being outdoors with the sun shining. It was too hot with his robes on, but he felt vulnerable otherwise.Behind him trailed a girl, taller than the majority of first years, with a lighter version of his crimson red hair. Aside from the hair, most wouldn't suspect the girl to be related nor suspect that she was the reason that the normally punctual teacher was late. She had agreed to meet him before the class, so that he could discuss how he wanted the demonstration to go. Of course, she had been late, because she was dawdling in the library. Always the bookworm.
“Welcome back, class,” he said, moving to the front of the room rather quickly. “Before midterm, we were working on the Point Me spell. The first part of defense is to get away as fast as possible and not to get lost doing so.”
Now, nearby, the fair girl shifted nervously in front of everyone. She didn't like to be the center of attention and she felt sure most were looking at her, wondering who she was and what she was doing here. It was obvious that she didn't belong in this class.
Drake briefly glanced over to her, before continuing his lesson, “Today, we are going to begin working on two spells that can be immensely useful if you can't reach safety right away, Expelliarmus and Protego.”
Walking over to her, he put an arm around her shoulder, “This is my daughter, Briony. She is here to help me demonstrate these spells.” Turning to her, he asked softly, “Ready?”
She nodded. No, she wasn't ready. She didn't want to have everyone seeing how well she could or couldn't do a spell, but she had agreed for him. While he could perform Expelliarmus on a student, the student would most likely not be able to perform the spell back to show the second spell they were to learn. Taking her stance, now across from him, she pulled her wand and pointed it at him, as his own was drawn from the depths of his sleeves, as he took a similar position.
“Expelliarmus,” she shouted, a shot coming from her wand.
Drake didn't bother to block the spell, allowing it to hit him, knocking his wand a few feet away. He addressed the class, as he went to get his wand, “This spell is designed to knock the wand from your opponent's hand. It is a very useful spell. The more practiced and powerful you become, the more likely it is that you can also knock your opponent off their feet with the spell. Of course, remember, your opponent can also try to use the spell on you. In which, case, you then want to use Protego. This is the shield charm and will create a magical shield to deflect minor to moderate spells. Ready?”
Nodding, Briony took stance again, “Expelliarmus!”
Immediately, Drake shouted, “Protego!” His daughter's spell was deflected. “Now, then, I want you to work in groups of two, practicing Expelliarmus and Protego. The spells may not be very strong to begin with, but with practice, they'll become more powerful. You may begin.”
OOC: Okay, remember, the usual - minimum ten sentences, creativity counts, so have some fun!
Subthreads: Oh no! Big Words! by Talitha Cumni with Oliver Abbott, Oliver, Talitha
YAY! We get to practice dueling spells! TAG! by Hikaru Kasuragi with Hyana Kamiya, Hikaru, Professor O'Leary
Uh-oh. by Ebony with Lucas Smythe
Dueling...I think I'll be quite good at this. by Kaleb Heindrich with Brett Hodges
A little shy (okay, and a little late...) by Camren Christianson with Law Cooper, Camren
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Professor O'Leary
First Years: Lesson Two
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Professor O'Leary
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Talitha Cumni
April 30, 2007 5:47 PM
Oh no! Big Words! by Talitha Cumni
Talitha made sure she got to class early. She really liked DADA and worshipped Professor O'Leary even if he did scare her a bit. But she was going to be brave from now on and not dissappear into the woodwork any more.A bit disappointed not to see the professor at his desk waiting for them, she took a seat. As the rest of the class wandered in, she became a bit concerned. What if Professor o'Leary had left too? Professor Deck was gone, Professor K was gone, teachers were leaving right and left and she would hate it if he was gone as well.
Right when it was time to start class, Talitha breathed a sigh of relief as the professor swept into the classroom in his usual black robes. Good,this was the first familiar face she'd seen amongst the teachers. She sighed. He looked so powerful, Talitha didn't think there was any dark force that could stand a chance against him.
The girl who was with him looked familiar. Talitha'd seen her in the library and Cascade hall. She didn't know her name or what house she was in. Even though she looked a bit embarassed standing in front of a bunch of firsties, Talitha thought she seemed nice.
When Professor O'Leary introduced her as Briony, his daughter, Talitha's mouth dropped open. Professor O'Leary was a daddy! Cool! Then he wasn't as cold and mean as he pretended to be. She could tell by the way he put is arm around his daughter. Yep, she was right,crusty on the outside and mush on the inside.
As they demonstrated the Expelliarmus and the Protego spells, Talitha mouthed the words silently over and over again as she watch the wand movements. The hand motions werenn't too hard. She never really had a problem with that. But she was never any good at pronoucing big words. Protego was okay. But Explelly... Espelli... Well, she would just have to do her best.
She touched her medicine bag that was always around her neck for luck, but didn't release her spirit guides. They might distract her. Especially since Squirrel went straight for Jae any time he was in the room. Turning to her neighbor on her right, she asked, "Want to be my partner?"
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Talitha Cumni
Oh no! Big Words!
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Talitha Cumni
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Oliver Abbott
May 04, 2007 2:39 PM
You'll be fine. by Oliver Abbott
Oliver dragged his feet all the way to his defence against the dark arts class. He was merely bored; he still had no fast friends, he wasn’t particularly good at anything lesson-related, and okay so he was on the Quidditch team, but only as a reserve – he’d never get to play. Probably not until the Captain finished school (he didn’t imagine any of the players were likely to leave the team) and that would be another whole year and a half.The main problem was that he feared Sonora wasn’t what he had been expecting after all. He had hoped it would be like his last school, but more interesting, because of the magic. It had several important differences, though; the most important being that there was only was school sports team. As long as he could remember Oliver had played for at least two teams at the same time; soccer, baseball, basketball, the relay team and the swim team, even the polo team had all seen Oliver as a prominent member at one point or another. Then there were the other groups he’d frequented, including choir, string quartet, jazz band, the poetry society – where were all these places at Sonora? They were all there at Julian’s high school, and Oliver felt like he was missing out. Okay, so he had a wand and could make potions and fly a broomstick, he supposed they were bonuses. But if he wasn’t having fun then what was the point, really? The only thing that kept Oliver going was the knowledge that he had set out to prove to his family that he would make a good wizard. It would be a bit silly to give up after only a few months, so Oliver ploughed on, trying his best not to feel too miserable.
When he reached the classroom, Oliver took a seat and waited for the professor to arrive. When he did so, he brought an older girl with him, who he later introduced as his daughter. He watched as they demonstrated the two spells for the lesson, and a tiny amount of Oliver’s enthusiasm returned to him. This was pretty cool, actually – he was sure that Julian would be jealous of learning duelling spells. Oliver copied down the two spells neatly into his notebook, and looked up at the voice of the girl sitting next to him. “Want to be my partner?” she asked.
“Okay,” Oliver said. He recognised this student from his commons, so she must be in Crotalus. Which meant she had to share a room with Lutece, the poor girl. He’d never spoken to her, though, to his recollection, and couldn’t recall ever having heard her name either. “I’m Oliver,” he said, standing and extending his hand to her. “You’re in Crotalus too, aren’t you?”
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Oliver Abbott
You'll be fine.
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Oliver Abbott
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Talitha Cumni
May 05, 2007 12:23 AM
Gee you're brave by Talitha Cumni
Talitha felt her cheeks grow warm. Suddenly she felt a bit shy. She didn’t know why, after all it wasn’t like she was boy crazy or anything. Boys made good buddies, but nothing more. It probably was because if Oliver recognized her, then he saw her at her worst when she was so homesick and scared. Not the best first impression.At least he didn’t act as if he thought she was stuck up. Even better, he didn’t act stuck up. He’d just used his first name to introduce himself instead of the show offey first and last name thing. Her small smile widened a bit as she nodded.
“Yeah, I’m in Crotalus too. My name’s Talitha.” She found the nerve to meet the fair haired boy’s eyes. They were nice eyes. Maybe a bit sad, but friendly. Glancing around at the other students, Talitha saw that they were getting ready to do the exercise, they’d better do the same thing. She started to get up from her desk.
“You know, I’ve never been told by a grown up before to attack someone on purpose.” Talitha said. “This feels kinda weird, you know? What do you want to do? Be the attacker or the defender first?”
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Talitha Cumni
Gee you're brave
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Talitha Cumni
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Oliver
May 06, 2007 3:24 PM
I am? by Oliver
“Yeah, I’m in Crotalus too. My name’s Talitha,” the girl said. Hmm, Talitha was a cool name. Oliver liked unusual names. His own name was quite dull – there were lots of other Olivers. He’d never heard of another Talitha, though. The girl was looking right at Oliver, which was a bit creepy. He noticed that she had lovely dark eyes. Oliver hated his eyes. For a start he couldn’t see much unless he was wearing his glasses, but they were also a bit of a gross watery gray. Oliver blinked and looked away.Talitha commented that she’d never been told to attack someone before. Oliver offered her a sort of one-sided smile. She had a fair point. That was another tally for Sonora – you got to cast offensive spells on your classmates. “What do you want to do? Be the attacker or the defender first?”
Oliver fell a bit uncomfortable about attacking a girl. He thought maybe he might feel better if she had attacked him first. “I’d like to defend first, if that’s okay,” he said, taking a few steps back from the desk so he was in a relatively clear space. He practiced the spell to himself a couple of times before looking back up at Talitha. “Okay, go whenever you’re ready,” he said.
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Oliver
I am?
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Oliver
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Talitha
May 07, 2007 4:58 PM
Braver than me! by Talitha
Talitha cringed. She’d hoped Oliver would choose to attack as she still wasn’t to sure on the pronunciation of the spell. But, she would have to try sooner or later anyway. She shrugged and grinned. She prayed what ever happened, she wouldn’t hurt him or break his glasses. He had such a nice face and the glasses made him look so smart. It touched her too, that he was being a gentleman. So many boys here, no matter how nice they were, tended to steam ahead like they held a quaffle and there was a bludger on their tail.“Here goes nothing,” Talitha pointed her wand at Oliver. “I’m sorry ahead of time if I mess up.”
She took a deep breath and blew it out, making a stray strand of her brown hair that worked loose from her braid float away from her face. Concentrating with all her might, she met Oliver’s trusting eyes. Oh, please don’t let me hurt him She just couldn’t do it, not looking at him. How horrible it would be if she injured someone who might be willing to become a new friend.
Expelliarmus! she cried, squinching her eyes shut tight at the last second so she wouldn’t have to see what happened next. She felt the familiar sensation of magic moving through her to her wand. Talitha was greatly relieved that she pronounced the word right. Gingerly she let out a sigh and opened her eyes to see what, if anything happened.
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Talitha
Braver than me!
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Talitha
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Oliver
May 07, 2007 5:38 PM
From what I gather, that's not too hard. by Oliver
When Talitha apologised in advance for screwing up, Oliver almost laughed. He couldn’t quite decide if she was insecure in her capabilities or just being polite. But then the spell was heading his way, and Oliver found that the amount of time it took for Talitha to cast her spell was only just enough warning for him to prepare his defence. “Protego!” he shouted – he hadn’t meant to shout, but he’d never had a spell directed right towards him before, and it was a tad surprising to say the least. After just a second it was all over, and Oliver still held his wand in his hand, but his usually neat hair was decidedly ruffled due to a gentle but sudden rush of wind that had arrived at the same time Talitha’s spell had.Oliver looked up to see Talitha looking right back at him again. She apparently had a serious need for eye contact. She looked like she was awaiting the results of a big exam or something. “It’s okay,” Oliver said, to reassure her in case she was as worried as her expression conveyed. “Not much happened but er… I’m not sure whether that was because we both got the spells right or we both got them a bit wrong.” To be fair, it wasn’t as if it was easy to tell whether he was still holding his wand because of a good shield charm or a poor expelliarmus. “No offence,” he added hastily, in case the girl had taken umbridge at his unintentional slight on her spell-casting abilities. He nervously adjusted his glasses, waiting to see Talitha’s reaction to their success/failure dilemma.
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Oliver
From what I gather, that's not too hard.
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Oliver
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Talitha
May 07, 2007 9:10 PM
Not hard at all...Wait who have you been talking to? by Talitha
Talitha was relieved that she just didn’t hurt Oliver. “Not much happened but er… I’m not sure whether that was because we both got the spells right or we both got them a bit wrong no offence,” She was too happy to know he was all right to be offended.Oliver was really a good sport not to accuse her of messing up. After all was said and done, he was right. Who would know if she did a good job and he blocked well or if he did a good job and she messed up? Frowning and rubbing the back of her braid, Talitha thought a bit how to solve the problem.
There was only one solution. They should have to take turns using Expelliarmus without the other defending themselves. Then they could tell what felt right and know if the Protego charm was working right. So they’d have to get up the nerve to let the other one try unarmed. Well, he trusted her, now it was her turn to trust him.
“Why don’t we just take turns using Expelliarmus and then we’ll know if we’re doing it right. Then we can add Protego after we’ve got that down.” Talitha said cautiously. “How about you go first this time?”
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Talitha
Not hard at all...Wait who have you been talking to?
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Talitha
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Oliver
May 08, 2007 12:55 PM
*shifty eyes* Nobody... by Oliver
Apparently Talitha had been concerned about the effects of the spells, as she appeared to be a lot happier as soon as Oliver said that he was okay. Had she been worried about him? More likely she wanted her spell to go right. Either way her reaction was quite endearing, really, and Oliver found that he was starting to enjoy working with Talitha. He wondered why he hadn’t ever spoken to her before now.Talitha seemed to agree with Oliver on the issue of whether or not their spells had worked. “Why don’t we just take turns using Expelliarmus and then we’ll know if we’re doing it right. Then we can add Protego after we’ve got that down,” she suggested, which was the solution Oliver had come up with, too. He nodded his approval at her idea.
“Sounds like a plan,” he said, still not smiling but decidedly less grumpy than he had been at the start of the lesson. He wasn’t prepared for Talitha to suggest he tried the spell first, though. She wouldn’t even have the shield charm to protect her like he had. Though on the other hand, it was only a charm to disarm – it wasn’t supposed to hurt in at all. Oliver wasn’t so naïve that he thought that he could cause any serious damage, anyway; he was only in first year, after all.
“Alright,” he reluctantly conceded. “Are you ready?” he asked. Upon her affirmation, Oliver raised his wand and cast the spell. “Expelliarmus!” He didn’t put as much effort into it as he would have perhaps done if Talitha hadn’t been a girl, also in first year, without any conceivable means of defending herself. He rarely got a spell to work first try, but it wasn’t unheard of.
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Oliver
*shifty eyes* Nobody...
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Oliver
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Talitha
May 08, 2007 3:19 PM
Yeah. Rrriiight. by Talitha
Talitha was glad that Oliver didn’t scoff at her idea the way some others from her house might have. Talitha remembered her confrontation with Lila just before term started. Things were a bit icy in the girl’s dorm since then, but nothing she couldn’t handle.She had a couple of friends outside of there and was making more everyday. Still, she hoped Oliver didn’t pay attention to gossip as she really wanted to add him to her list of real friends. Mentally she shook herself. She had to concentrate on the here and now or she might end up flying into the book selves like the boy who was working with Hyana.
When Oliver asked if she was ready, she bit her lower lip to keep herself steady and raised her wand shoulder level so that he would have an easier target. Nodding her readiness, she braced herself, not knowing what to expect.
Oliver raised his wand and cast his spell. There was a light that flashed unerringly from his wand to hers. She felt something kinda like a bump against her right hand. Looking down, Talitha saw that her wand, just a second ago pointing at Oliver, was now pointing straight up to the ceiling! It didn’t leave her hand, but he moved it!
“You did it, Oliver, you did it!” Talitha cried, all grins and dimples. She was really beginning to like this exercise! “Now, try it again. This time with feeling!”\n
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Talitha
Yeah. Rrriiight.
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Talitha
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Oliver
May 08, 2007 3:49 PM
So... by Oliver
“You did it, Oliver, you did it!” Talitha cried, grinning like she had just won the lottery or something. Her cheeriness was contagious, though, and Oliver really couldn’t help but grin back at her, despite the fact that he knew his grin made him look even more geeky than he did already. Still, with practically no pigment, a dodgy haircut, and glasses permanently attached to his face, Oliver had never hoped to look anything more than merely acceptable.“Don’t get over excited,” he told his partner, a wide smile still plastered firmly on his face – he couldn’t seem to shake it. “It didn’t work all that well.” Though it did work a bit, a little voice in his head was saying. Oliver had to admit it was right – it had worked a bit, and he couldn’t help but feel a bit proud.
“Try it again,” Talitha encouraged with as much energy as if she’d had about twelve cups of coffee. “This time with feeling.”
Oliver didn’t need telling twice. He pushed his white-blond hair back from his eyes and brandished his wand. When he was sure Talitha was ready, he called “Expelliarmus!” with much more force than the first time. It was so exhilarating sending magic at another person, much more so than trying to trying to make inanimate objects perform unusual feats. Oliver wondered briefly if that made him sadistic, but then quickly decided that he didn’t care.
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Oliver
So...
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Oliver
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Talitha
May 08, 2007 7:19 PM
....uh huh.... by Talitha
This time, Talitha felt no fear. There was something so exhilarating about this kind of magic. She couldn’t wait to see what would happen when Oliver really tried. She didn’t even worry about being a target, this was just way too much fun. She braced herself, held her wand out and nodded her readiness.In Talitha’s imagination, Oliver looked like a swordsman in a duel as he brandished his wand and cast, no, threw his spell. The light traveling from wand to wand was brighter. Instead of a bump, she felt a jolt that went all the way up her arm. It wasn’t painful though, just a bit of a shock but.
A split second later, Talitha’s wand flew up in the air! Gasping, she followed its spinning course until it hit a wall and clattered to the floor. Her large brown eyes turned to meet Oliver’s, her mouth opened in a surprised ‘oh’ slowly spread into a smile.
“Now, that’s what I called feeling!” she whispered to him, still in shock. “That was awesome!”
She ran to retrieve her wand. Inspecting it, she could see no damage. She shook it a bit and its usual sparks of gold and silver flickered from its tip. It seemed to be in perfect working order. Looking up at Oliver with a mischievous grin, she gave him a salute she saw at a dueling demonstration once.
“My turn!” \n
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Talitha
....uh huh....
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Talitha
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Oliver
May 09, 2007 3:33 PM
Yep. by Oliver
Oliver was astonished by what he had managed to accomplish. His spell had sent Talitha’s wand flying right up and out of her hand. It was wicked! Talitha seemed to think so, too, though she had looked a little shocked at first. She retrieved her wand and inspected it. Apparently it hadn’t been damaged any, which pleased Oliver. Talitha seemed like a nice enough girl and he wouldn’t have liked it if he’d just broken her wand. She had an unusual wand – Oliver hadn’t gotten close enough to see it properly, but it looked like it was carved or something. Maybe he would ask her about it later.“My turn!” Talitha called with another grin. She might not know it but she was steadily climbing higher in Oliver’s estimation with every word she uttered.
“Yes, m’lady,” Oliver said, bowing and grinning back. The bad mood he had been in at the start of class had completely vanished, replaced instead by good humour that was almost entirely due to Talitha’s influence. Oliver was still regretting not having spoken to her before now. He stood and readied himself for her return spell. “Don’t hold back, okay?” he reminded her. “With feeling!” He stood with his wand raised, as she had, and waited for the impact of the spell.
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Oliver
Yep.
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Oliver
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Talitha
May 10, 2007 12:16 AM
....M'Kay.... by Talitha
When Oliver bowed and called her M’lady, Talitha couldn’t help but giggle self-consciously, she didn’t know why, but the way he said it just tickled her- all knight in shining armor and all. Cheeks pinking a bit, she played along and curtsied. “Why thank you, kind Sir.” she said and giggled again.How cool was it when an ordinary class exercise could be so much fun? Oh, she was sure that Professor O’Leary would firmly remind them that this was serious business and not a game and she’d never admit it out loud in his presence, but that’s exactly what it felt like, a really fun game.
When Oliver was ready and told her to follow her own advice, with feeling, she laughed out loud. It looked like he was having as much fun as she was. Clasping her free hand over her mouth to stifle the sound, she thanked her stars that there was way too much commotion in the room to be noticed by their teacher.
Talitha settled down to pay attention to the task at hand, but her eyes still danced merrily. She couldn’t resist saluting Oliver like she had seen in a dueling demonstration once and then assumed the proper stance. “Okay, here goes. Just brace yourself ‘cause if I do it right, this spell’s got a kick like an abraxan! Ready? Expelliarmus!
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Talitha
....M'Kay....
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Talitha
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Oliver
May 10, 2007 2:24 PM
Points for Crotalus! by Oliver
Talitha was amusing. The way she laughed and blushed and smiled reminded Oliver of Charlie, but he didn’t want to think about her right now. Since he had come to Sonora Oliver knew things would be different at home, but he hadn’t anticipated quite how different they had become. Only since the beginning of the year Julian and Charlotte had become a lot closer than they had been before, and neither of them were as close to Oliver. He should have expected it, really – after all, they still saw each other every day and he only got to see them during the holidays. But still, he had liked being both the younger brother and the older brother, and now it seemed like he was neither, but rather the brother that wasn’t there any more. He hadn’t told anyone about this stuff – who would he tell anyway? It didn’t matter. At least he had found someone to cheer him up. Right now said someone was aiming a wand right at him, and Oliver found it a little intimidating. If she hadn’t been giggling just a moment before then Oliver might even have been a little bit afraid.As the spell shot from Talitha’s wand, Oliver tensed up in a moment of anticipation before it made impact. The spell was strong – Oliver felt a jolt through his arm and his wand was suddenly no longer in his hand but soared in an arc towards Talitha and landed with a clatter on the floor between them.
“Hey, that was really good,” he said, impressed. “How’d you get it to come the right way? Mine went over there,” he said, gesticulating in the general direction Talitha’s wand had flown at his spell. He picked up his wand and glanced briefly at it before deducing no harm had been done.
“Well I think we can do that one,” Oliver said, grinning. “Let’s try it with the defence now, okay?” He raised his wand in preparation. “You do the expelliarmus again.”
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Oliver
Points for Crotalus!
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Oliver
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Talitha
May 11, 2007 8:03 PM
GO US!!! by Talitha
Talitha loved the feeling of power that coursed through her as she cast her spell. It was fun to make things happen on purpose. Before, during her sad time, all of her efforts were half-hearted causing mediocre results. But since break when she became herself once more, the joy of just living returned and with it, it seemed her very life.The more Talitha allowed herself to risk, to dare, the greater the rewards. Sometimes, like right now, she felt like she could burst and she wanted to shout it to the world. She settled instead for channeling that energy into her class work and today, it was paying off.
Then there Oliver, someone else Talitha could call a new friend. Bonus! He was so much fun once he started to relax. Talitha imagined them, tearing up the common room, practicing their newly learned spells. She could picture them dodging behind the wing-backed chairs, crawling under the sofas, leaping over the tables in a kind of Auror/Dark Wizard game. On second thought, perhaps Professor Powell would prefer they take the game out to the gardens, it would be more fun there any way. Hiding in bushes and shrubs was far more adventurous than under a sofa.
When Oliver asked her how she managed to get his wand to go in the right direction, she frowned a bit, confused. “I didn’t know there was right way for it to go.” Talitha shrugged. “It just happened that way.”
Her grin returned when he said he thought they were ready for the next step. She thought so too. He said he wanted to try doingProtego first. No problem. She loved doing Expelliarmus now.
“Okay,” Talitha said teasingly and tapping the tip of her wand on the side of her chin and if thinking wicked thoughts. “I think I’ll go easy on you this time.” She made sure he was ready and whipped her wand around crying, “Expelliarmus!
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Talitha
GO US!!!
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Talitha
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Oliver
May 14, 2007 4:25 PM
Yeah, go us! by Oliver
Apparently his wand going towards Talitha was just fluke, but Oliver wasn’t so sure. Maybe it was lucky this time, but he thought that the better you got at a spell, the better it would work for you. So if you practised expelliarmus enough then maybe you could get your opponent’s wand to fly right into your hand. That would be awesome!“I think I’ll go easy on you this time,” Talitha teased as they got ready to cast the spells again.
Oliver tried to think of a witty reply but none came to him. “You do that,” he said instead, in as mocking a tone as he could manage. But he wasn’t laughing when Talitha sent her spell – that girl had some power behind it. She had definitely been lying about going easy.
With barely time to think, Oliver rapidly cast protego, shouting again, although he still didn’t mean to. It was just that there was a spell coming towards you, and you didn’t really have time to think to defend yourself. It was just like instinct, trying to protect yourself. It gave Oliver a bit of a rush, and he loved it. His shield charm worked well; he felt a bit of a buzzing in his arm, which he suspected was Talitha’s spell, but he retained a firm hold of his wand. He thought maybe the panic to protect himself had something to do with the shield working so well, but that was something he definitely wasn’t going to admit out loud.
“Yeah, we did it!” he said instead, grinning at Talitha. He put his glasses back straight, having knocked them askew in his enthusiasm. “We’re the best, we are totally the best,” he said, before he managed to regain control of himself. Trying to keep a straight(er) face, he readied himself to do the spell again.
“Okay, you can try protego now,” he said. He thought he sounded a little bossy, and promptly flushed at the prospect, but nevertheless he didn’t think Talitha would mind too much. She could always hex him if she felt offended, and that thought was disconcerting to say the least.
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Oliver
Yeah, go us!
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Oliver
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Talitha
May 14, 2007 10:24 PM
We're on a roll now! by Talitha
“Yeah, we did it! We’re the best, we are totally the best,” Talitha couldn’t agree more. She almost ran over and gave him a bear hug, but Oliver being a boy and her a girl, it would be, well creepy.Honestly, she sorta felt a bit guilty, throwing that spell at him like she did, for a second. Oliver looked honestly scared for a moment. But that all change when he repelled it with no trouble. The next thing she knew, they were celebrating like a bunch of crazy monkeys, jumping up and down and hollering without a care in the world what anybody thought of them.
When Oliver told her it was her turn to try Protego, Talitha whole heartedly agreed. She had no doubt in the world that she could do it. She couldn’t wait to show of her newly discovered skills. She pictured Oliver’s spell coming at her and just bouncing harmlessly away like hers did with him.
“Go ahead,” Talitha said, a little bit cocky. “Give me your best shot.”
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Talitha
We're on a roll now!
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Talitha
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Oliver
May 29, 2007 7:25 PM
Yeah, but slowing down. by Oliver
His best shot? Well he certainly could do that. Oliver didn’t feel bad about casting attacking spells on Talitha anymore, it was apparent that she could take it, and dish it back out, too. “Okay, get ready for it then,” Oliver said, waving his wand in highly exaggerated flourishes.He wondered, not for the first time, what it would be like if Julian had gone to Sonora first. Then all of this wouldn’t have been new to him, because he would have heard all about it from his brother first. Perhaps it was better this way after all, even if it did further separate Oliver from his family.
When he was sure that Talitha was ready, Oliver took a deep breath and sent his most forceful expelliarmus at Talitha yet. He even surprised himself by the strength he felt in his spell as it left his wand. Of course if it had been a harmful spell he wouldn’t have sent such a strong one until he was sure that Talitha could get the shield working, but since it was only to disarm he didn’t think it would do any damage. Still, the short second while he waited to see if Talitha had cast her spell successfully was slightly unnerving.
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Oliver
Yeah, but slowing down.
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Oliver
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5
Talitha
May 30, 2007 10:09 PM
Down is the operating word by Talitha
Talitha remembered a split second before Oliver cast his spell that she hadn’t tried to use the shield charm before and she almost lost her nerve. In a panic, she cried Proetgo almost at the exact same moment he cast his disarming charm. Talitha was not prepared for the force of power behind Oliver’s attack.She could feel the resistance of her own magic meet his. The jolt to her arm was tremendous. As first, it seemed as though the shield charm would hold, a moment later, Talitha’s wand and feet were flying up in the air. Talitha’s wand fell to the floor between Oliver and her as she landed on her backside, hard-- very hard.
“Ow-w-w-w-w.” Talitha moaned. She wasn’t hurt bad. In fact, her ego was more buised than her backside although it would be very hard to sit in a desk chair for the rest of the day. Talitha truly hoped that Oliver wouldn’t blame himself. After all, if her spell had been as powerful as his, none of this would have happened. Talitha really admired Oliver for two reasons. First, he learned both spell fast and the power behind that last attack was amazing! Most importantly, he treated her like some one who could keep up with him, not a wimpy girlee girl. It was nice for a change.
“I’m okay,” she assured Oliver as she limped over to pick up her wand, resisting the urge to rub her bruised cheeks in front of everyone. When she got back into position, she turned and smiled ruefully at partner. “I guess I’d better try that again.”
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Talitha
Down is the operating word
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Talitha
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Oliver
May 31, 2007 1:56 PM
Oops! by Oliver
Oliver watched in horror as Talitha’s shield charm didn’t hold, and she landed on the floor in what looked like a more than slightly painful fashion. He really didn’t mean for that to happen, but even as he rushed over to her to check she was okay, Oliver felt a slightly guilty rush of pleasure at being capable of knocking someone off her feet with his magic. It was shortly forgotten, though, as Talitha got up and winced in pain.“Sorry,” Oliver said sheepishly. Seeing she was headed towards her wand, he quickly picked it up and handed it to her. He felt bad for hurting her, especially after they had been getting along so well, but she did assure him she was okay. In addition to that, if he was reading her correctly, Oliver guessed that Talitha didn’t want to be fussed over, which was just as well because he wasn’t very good at fussing.
“I guess I’d better try that again,” Talitha said, readying herself.
“Yeah,” Oliver said. “I don’t think O’Leary would pass you on that,” he added, grinning, hoping that Talitha could tell he was trying to keep it light. She didn’t look too hurt, after all, which either meant that she wasn’t or that she didn’t want people to think she was. Therefore Oliver certainly wasn’t going to act like it was a big deal. “You ready?” he asked, preparing himself to cast the spell again.
When he was sure his partner was prepared, Oliver hesitated just a moment before casting. He was having a silent battle with himself about whether to send a weaker spell to give Talitha a better chance, or if doing so would insult her. On the one hand Oliver had no desire to cause Talitha further injury if her charm didn’t work again, but on the other her didn’t want to offend her by treating her like she couldn’t manage. In the end he decided that physical wounds would heal faster than psychological ones, and put his full effort - well, almost his full effort - into the spell again. "Expelliarmus!"
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Oliver
Oops!
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Oliver
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Talitha
June 03, 2007 3:23 PM
Life happens by Talitha
Talitha felt bad when she saw the worried look in Oliver’s eyes. It wasn’t his fault after all. If she was going to learn the spell intended to protect her, she would have to deal with the power behind the spell meant to attack her. No dark wizard was going to hold back just because she was a little girl. If there was one thing Professor O’Leary drummed into her head, it was to always be prepared.This time she braced herself. Nodding her readiness, she cried Protego! just as Oliver attacked. She felt the power of his spell wash over her, but it didn’t knock her to the ground. Her wand, well, her wand slipped from her grip and clattered to the floor. At least it didn’t go flying this time.
A bit disappointed at her lack of ability, she tried to grin at Oliver but it was more of a grimace. “Well, at least that was a bit better,” Talitha said shrugging.
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Talitha
Life happens
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Talitha
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